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Reports from the 2011 International CES trade show reveal the steadily growing importance of the mobile market. The pull from this corner of tech culture was highlighted even more by the fact that Verizon’s post-show iPhone announcement in New York received more attention than anything revealed at the huge Vegas event. And this is all against the backdrop of Nielson’s prediction that 2011 will be the year that the smartphone becomes the dominant type of mobile device. What does this mean for small business?
The explosion in smartphone use, combined with a proliferation of consumer oriented apps and cloud-based computing, means that shoppers will have access to more and better information while they shop. Retailers, for example, will no longer have control of the shopping experience. With services like RedLaser or the Amazon app, shoppers can comparison shop while standing in front of a product on a retailer’s shelves. They can also check store inventory before getting in the car or on the bus — a development that could mean potentially fewer impulse purchases or compromises by shoppers who don’t find what they are looking for at a store.
One development that might help businesses assert some control over the shopping experience and build brand loyalty is the use of mobile apps for payment processing and store account management. One large-scale example of this trend is being rolled out this week at Starbucks. The “Bits Blog” at the New York Times reports that on Wednesday,
Starbucks plans to announce that customers of the 6,800 stores the company operates in the United States and the 1,000 that are inTarget stores will be able to pay for their lattes with their cellphones instead of pulling out cash or a credit card. … Customers can also use the app to reload their cards, check their balances, find nearby stores and earn stars for purchases to trade in for free drinks.
This program is interesting not only for its novel use of technology for completing a purchase but also because it represents a way for a business to encourage its shoppers to visit its virtual location while inside its brick-and-mortar locale. This is one way businesses might be able to control and enhance the shopping experience of its customers. Now that mobile screens are a part of the in-store shopping experience, it’s increasingly important for businesses to find ways to incorporate these screens into the retail environment.
More on the web:
Claire Cain Miller, “Now at Starbucks: Buy a Latte by Waving Your Phone,” The New York Times (1/18/2011).
Roger Entner, “Smartphones to Overtake Feature Phones in U.S. by 2011,” NielsonWire (3/26/2010).
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